Boston Celtics Stay Focused on Long Term Future

With their incredible collection of assets and unprecedented amount of draft picks, the Boston Celtics are in a position where they are expected to be one of the biggest players in free agency and trades this offseason. Danny Ainge has always been a willing trader and they are in an ideal position to add the talent that they need right now. The problem is that a lot of teams are distracted and harmed by the pressure to win as fast as possible and at any costs. Playoff coaches can’t even have a sense of job security and too many teams try to rush to get the talent they need as fast as possible, only to hurt themselves long term.

The Celtics no longer have to worry about that. Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens are as secure as anyone can feel and they are under no pressure to win right now. That’s not to say that Ainge will not do everything to make his team the most improved in the league. Instead, it means that Ainge has the freedom to build the Celtics  exactly how he feels is best, without having to worry that one wrong move will cost him his job. The Celtics franchise has ensured that Ainge and Stevens will not be thinking about their job security in favor of the team they are building.

Brad Stevens is also in an ideal to position to let all the young talent develop properly. Stevens does not have to force players into bad situations simply because they feel pressure to win right now. Stevens has always been patient and has done a great job with the Celtics’ talent and now that he has the added security on top of what was already a long contract he can make sure that each player develops exactly how they need to.

The Celtics kept their long term future in mind when they extended both Ainge and Stevens and that will ensure that the Celtics continue to build properly. The Celtics may make the right moves in free agency to get the talent they need to contend, but with an incredibly weak free agency class the Celtics may be better off making sure they get the best possible players, even if that means delaying what could be a massive free agency haul right now.

After the Celtics fought and ended up tied for the three seed in the east, that added pressure  to what is expected of them. The Celtics can no longer get by as an overachieving regular season team that can’t get out of the first round of the playoffs. Ainge will certainly try to get the talent as fast as possible but he now has the added comfort of knowing that if he cannot work out the right deal, or if he cant get the right free agents, then he will not have to fear for his job security. Having non-existent expectations has given Ainge and Stevens security so far during the rebuild but all of that changes after the season they had, especially in the eastern conference.

The Celtics are setting themselves up as one of the most stable situations in the NBA. Ainge will be able to fully assemble his team and Stevens will be able to properly develop all the talent. The young players get all the stability that has become almost non-existent in the NBA. They know they have found the GM and coach they need and there is no reason to do anything that may get in their way of rebuilding a championship team.

Even if the Celtics do not get the free agents or blockbuster trades that will instantly make them contenders, they now know that they have the right coach and the right GM to build this team through the draft. They know now that if they are not able to get things done in the immediate short term then they can still figure things out because they believe in the people that are responsible.

The Celtics are looking to build something special and they know that if they want to compete with the historically great teams that are currently in the league, they are going to need more than some high end talent. Stevens has shown all the signs of being the coach that will implement the right mentality and system and after Ainge’s masterful job of collecting assets, he has earned confidence in his ability to pick the right players.

Next: Jimmy Butler is the Answer for the Celtics

The Celtics are looking to build one of the strongest and deepest cores in the NBA and now that they know who will be leading the way throughout, they can focus everything on making sure they make the best decisions for the long term success of this team.